Patent Literatures 1 to 3 disclose solid-state imaging devices including an imaging area in which a plurality of pixel units is two-dimensionally arranged.
The solid-state imaging device disclosed in Patent Literature 1 is a multi-port readout solid-state imaging device including a plurality of ports (amplifying unit for output) corresponding to each column of the imaging area and is provided in order to compensate for a variation in the output read from each port between the columns at the boundary of the imaging area. In the solid-state imaging device, a reference signal is input to one column which corresponds to each port and is disposed at the boundary of the imaging area and an offset variation and a gain variation of the output signal between the ports are compensated for on the basis of the reference signal.
The solid-state imaging device disclosed in Patent Literature 2 includes an optical black cell and an optical white cell which becomes the saturation level standard on the same substrate. The solid-state imaging device determines whether an effective pixel is at the saturation level on the basis of an output signal from the optical white cell.
The solid-state imaging device disclosed in Patent Literature 3 changes the gain of the amplifying unit for output on the basis of a reset signal, which is an output from a solid-state imaging element (pixel unit) substantially in a dark state. The solid-state imaging device compensates for an offset variation and a gain variation of the output signal due to a variation in the characteristics of the solid-state imaging element on the basis of the tendency that, as the level of the reset signal of the solid-state imaging element increases, the sensitivity of the solid-state imaging element decreases.